Absolute Championship Berkut aren’t messing around with their ACB 50 mega show on December 18. They’ve stacked the card high with two title fights with both the ACB heavyweight and bantamweight titles being defended.

Also on the card are the two British fighters Saul Rogers and Ed Arthur who are both coming off big wins earlier this month back at ACB 47 which took place in Glasgow, Scotland.

The main event will see Salimgirey Rasulov defend his ACB heavyweight title against Denis Golstov, while Magomed Magomedov will defend his ACB bantamweight title against Oleg Borisov.

Saul Rogers will continue his quest for the ACB lightweight title when he faces Musa Khamanaev, while Ed Arthur takes on Tural Ragimov.

ACB 50 Card

Salimgerey Rasulov vs Denis Goltsov

Brett Cooper vs. Aslambek Saidov

Oleg Borisov vs Magomed Magomedov

Vyacheslav Wasilewski vs. Albert Durayev

Marcelo Alfaya vs. Beslan Isayev

Saul Rogers vs. Musa Khamanaev

Alexander Sarnavsky vs. Ramazan Esenbay

Adlan Bataev vs. Donald Sanchez

Ed Arthur vs. Tural Ragimov

Marat Balayev vs. Carlos Alexandre da Costa

Vallison Carvalho vs. Ilya Goldfinches

Tomorrow, ACB 48 takes place in Moscow and the ACB lightweight title will be on the line. Be sure to check out MMA Latest where we will be streaming the whole event.

The fight card is stacked from top to bottom tomorrow night and features an ACB lightweight title main event. Frank Mir and Bryan Lacey will be calling the action on the English commentary so make sure you don’t miss it.

Former UFC Vet Chris Camozzi signs with ACB

Chris Camozzi will return. The former UFC middleweight returns to MMA after a not-so-long hiatus to the Russia-based promotion, Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB). ACB’s official Twitter account made the announcement late Wednesday morning.

A veteran of the sport, Camozzi first competed in 2006 when he made his debut at the Kickdown Classic 27 event, defeating his opponent Damon Clark via TKO in the opening round. Camozzi went 12-3, before making an appearance on season 11 of the reality series, The Ultimate Fighter. His preliminary bout against Vitor O’Donnell took a brutal toll on both fighters. After three close rounds, Camozzi got the decision victory and a broken jaw, while O’Donnell went home with a fractured orbital bone. Due to the extensive damage Camozzi accrued, the Colorado native learned he could not continue to compete in the tournament. Although he lost the opportunity win the competition, he did make his promotional debut on the reality series’s season finale. At The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz Finale, Camozzi defeated fellow TUF contestant James Hammortree by unanimous decision.

His relationship with the promotion started on a high note but, quickly fluctuated after consecutive underwhelming performances. Not only was this the story behind his first release from the UFC but, one which repeated itself twice more. The Middleweight signed with the promotion as many times as he was released, three. His most recent stint began in April of 2015. Following consecutive victories in which he earned a middleweight title and defended, he returned to the promotion. In seven fights since his return, Camozzi went 3-4, losing his lost three bouts. His final bout with the UFC came at UFC Fight Night 109: Gustaffson vs. Teixeira.

A quick kickboxing stint with Glory got the middleweight back into the win column. Camozzi competed at Glory 48, defeating Kyle Weickhardt by TKO in the second round.

At Russia’s ACB promotion, he now finds himself among the top talent outside of big promotions of the United States. ACB Middleweight champion, Albert Duraev, is undefeated during his time with the Russian-based promotion. Duraev defeated each of his last four opponents under the ACB banner by stoppage (2 submissions, 2 TKO’s).

ACB 79 takes place in Grozny, Russia this Saturday, January 27th. The card features a main event of Adlan Bataev (8-1) vs. Maike Linhares (13-2).

Rany Saadeh pleased with the opportunities ACB brings, promises a finish in his debut on Saturday

The BAMMA Flyweight belt was ruled for years by none other than Rany Saadeh, During his reign as champion he successfully defended the belt on two occasions. His dominance over the division saw him go undefeated in BAMMA and without a loss since 2012. Following the expiration of his contract, Rany vacated his BAMMA belt to explore new challenges.

He has now signed with ACB and is set to make his debut in only a matter of days at ACB 74 in Austria where he will take on Darren Mima. In a recent catch up with Rany, he explained his reasoning behind joining ACB and his goals in the promotion.

“ACB is the fastest growing organization in MMA. They’ve promised me an active career with events all over the world and a tempting bonus structure. It was just what I was looking for. I’ve looked into the competition and I can honestly say that the competition at flyweight is just as good, if not even better than in the UFC. Being the ACB title holder would make me a legit world champion.”

Ahead of his bout with Mima, we are set to see some new stuff from Saadeh as he claims to have changed up his style after a solid camp for this fight, guaranteeing us a surprise.

“I didn’t need to change anything for him but my style changed in general since my last fight. I’ve had an excellent camp with high-level training partners and coaches. I’m very grateful for my coaches who have put hours of private work into me this year. Especially with my new boxing coach Luciano Robledo, I can guarantee a surprise.”

The confidence is evident as he tells me how he sees the fight going. Promising his well-rounded arsenal of both strikes and grappling are worthy of bonuses, something he’d be very keen on considering the set-up in ACB.

“I will not just completely dominate but also finish.” He began, “I can imagine this fight being a wild brawl and dropping my opponent. Also on the ground, I have some slick submissions that are bonus-worthy.”

Having been successful in BAMMA, Rany is striving for more glory as plans on taking home the ACB title becoming the first Western European to do so.

“Of course!” he says with determination in his voice, “I’m coming into ACB as a world champion and the #1 ranked flyweight in Western Europe. After winning this fight, the title fight is right there”

It’s now been over a year since we’ve seen, “Prince” enter the cage. A decision voluntarily made by the German as he adjusted his game.

“It was mid last year when I had started to adjust my game. These changes take time and as the wished competition wasn’t there, I decided to take some time off fighting to prepare for a bigger challenge.”

Now having departed ways with BAMMA, the British promotion now has a new champion in Daniel Barez. Unfortunately for Rany, his reasons for leaving was the lack of competition has beaten everyone put in front of him with money being an issue that stepped in the way too. Despite any negativity derived from his departure, he does not rule out a return to the promotion where he was once Flyweight king.

“The competition in Europe just got very thin. With five fights in BAMMA, I somehow wasn’t very impressed with the opportunities left. Neither I got the fights, nor the purse that I needed to take my career further. After two title defenses, it felt like I was standing still which isn’t just BAMMA’s fault. Altogether, they are a great promotion and I wouldn’t exclude a return.”

When the UFC announced they would have the best flyweights from around the world enter the TUF house with a shot at the belt going to the winner. Many would have thought Rany Saadeh would have been up there. The season had champions from all over the world but no one from BAMMA, something strange considering the number of champions they signed in the past year from the promotion.

In an unfortunate circumstance for Saadeh, it was not his fault he wasn’t in the house as the UFC did come knocking but BAMMA just weren’t letting their champ go. Despite this situation, there is no bad blood anymore as Saadeh has moved on with things now.

“The UFC was definitely interested in putting me on the show and it is not true that BAMMA wasn’t asked. They were asked but didn’t want to be part of it. Without their permission, I wasn’t able to take part in the TUF. But I’m not mad at that anymore, I feel like it will make better opportunities possible.”

Having missed out on a possible UFC opportunity before, it isn’t on his mind anymore as he remains pleased with his life and is mainly looking to support his family in the future.

“I really don’t care, I’m set for the next few fights. All I want now is a decent living from fighting and provide for my family in the near future. ACB is not just giving me the chance to reach that goal but also giving me the challenges that I need. So far, I’m a very happy person”

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ACB 70: Luke Barnatt vs. Scott Askham Official Results

ACB returned to the English city of Sheffield to host ACB 70, an exciting card headlined by top middleweights Luke Barnatt and Scott Askham.

Barnatt (13-4) and Askham (14-4) had been going back and forth for years, but it seemed they would never resolve their tension in the cage. However, at ACB 70 the pair of English middleweights both had the chance to end the rivalry for good. The card also featured a variety of homegrown English MMA talent.